Dispatch Endorses McCain, Unbroken Republican Presidential Candidate Endorsement Streak Safe

If I have time later, I'll try to deconstruct this pathetic attempt at an endorsement by the Dispatch (R-Columbus). For now, let me just take on this Supreme Court issue: As Jeffrey Rosen explains (http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=87ca9449-7b32-48fa-bccb-7615457812be), the three justices most likely to step down during the coming presidential term are Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Souter. All three of them are on the liberal side of the court (liberal being a relative term in this context). Thus, an Obama administration would do no more than preserve the current balance of the court -- replacing semi-liberal justices with other semi-liberal justices. By contrast, a McCain administration could change the court's balance from 5-4 for the conservative position on most issues (or 4-4-1, with Kennedy as the swing vote), to 8-1 conservative. This would allow the conservative justices to strike down Roe v. Wade, eviscerate protections for civil rights and injured plaintiffs, and strike down acts of Congress with which they disagree (the very definition of "judicial activism"). In Rosen's words, it would be a "judicial apocalypse." And really, does anyone who's seen Obama campaign for the last two years really think he's the kind of guy who would appoint justices with "extreme views"? I'm wondering whether the Dispatch had a lawyer in the room when they decided to rest their endorsement on so flimsy a reed.